2017 Brunanter government formation
The 2017 Brunanter government formation resulted from deadlock (essentially a hung parliament) after the 2017 general election on 10 April 2017. The difficulty in selecting a government broke Brunant's record, and when a broadly centrist/leftist coalition was agreed upon on 10 January 2018, 275 days had passed. Background The 2017 election saw twelve parties elected to congress, surpassing the number of parties elected in 2013 to make for a record. Seven parties were leftist or center-left, four were rightist or center-right and one was centrist. No one party had more than 20 percent of the votes or 20 seats, and political pundits declared no less than four parties would be needed to form a government. Post-election developments The Social Democrats, finishing as the party with most seats, was widely expected to lead formation talks, with Pieter Van Buskirk the likely candidate for Prime Minister. ECO17 announced their support for a coalition with the SD, which A Better Brunant was willing to support, though they would only reach 33 seats, far short of a majority. All right-wing parties increased in seats, and the Christian Democratic Union, coming to within one seat of the SD, appeared likely to head opposing government proposals, though all the parties in the right together could not surpass the minimum 50% needed to form a government. The far left, in particular Yes to the Future, P70-Links, Social Anarchy Party, and to a lesser extent the Socialist Left Party opposed either possible government proposals, though the far left was even further from a majority. Possibilities There were no clear possibilities as to what government was likely possible, but analysts saw several outcomes, such as: *A grand leftist coalition of SD, SLP, ECO17, YES and the GP *A grand coalition with the SD, CDU, ECO17, ABB and GP, which would be a new phenomenon and a difficult pact *A CDU, FLP and CvB coalition with support from BPP (and enough abstentions) *An SD, ECO17, ABB and GP coalition with enough abstentions The leftist coalition would not work due to animosity between YES and SLP with the SD, with YES leader Aina Sarria saying there was <> she could agree to a coalition with the Social Democrats. The grand coalition would be very difficult, due to the significant ideological gap between the parties. While it was suggested some in the CDU might be open to a grand coalition, ECO17 leader Warren Sheraldin stated that <>. A right-wing coalition led by the CDU would have been sunk by the left; even with the support of BPP, it would have needed at least eight other abstentions/votes in favor to pass. The leftist proposal would be even more challenged, requiring fifteen additional non-opposed votes. Coalition talks Several proposals for a coalition of left and center-left parties were put forward during rounds of discussion between SD, ECO17, SLP and ABB, though nothing concrete was achieved aside from a SD-ECO pact. The right-wing parties, led by the CDU, held their own discussions and by late April it appeared that FLP, CvB and BPP could support a CDU proposal. 1 May investiture attempt On 1 May the CDU put forward a proposal for Adrian Vandreck as Prime Minister. Vandreck was hoping on enough abstentions to allow his investiture, and even courted A Better Brunant and the Green Party, but it became apparent the vote would be doomed after ABB leader Avaline Porter announced that the <>. No abstentions were achieved and the CDU's vote came eight votes short of passing. Final formation On 10 January 2018, the minority coalition of the center-leftist Social Democrats, ecological ECO17, liberal Free Liberal Party and centrist A Better Brunant was proposed to congress, with SD leader Pieter Van Buskirk as Prime Minister. SLP abstained in order for the proposal to go through. Category:Events Category:Elections